Keith Ward's Blog - Posts Tagged "now-i-see"
Short or Long Chapters?
Words Saturday: About 1,581. Total, for the novel: 17,600. I was able to write late last night, which is unusual for me. I likely had energy due to a late-afternoon nap. That's always dangerous, because it can keep me up much later than I like. But it was worth it, as I wrote an important scene.
That brings up an interesting writing point: I tend to write short chapters, and include a lot of them. Many other writers write fewer, but very long, chapters. I wonder if it makes a difference for readers? (and I'd be interested in your opinion on this, if you'd care to let me know.) It might be because of my background writing screenplays. These days, most movies have many scenes, and they're generally quite short. Over the years, that's what I've gotten used to. So now that I'm writing novels, I tend to break up each change of locale, for example, into a new chapter (equivalent to a new scene in a screenplay). It's required in screenplays, but not in novels.
I don't think it affect me as a reader, but I admit I'm not a normal reader (or normal in anything, for that matter).
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Hopefully, tonight/tomorrow will see the last snowfall of the season. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, which means time for the snow to blow! We're expected to get little here, while to the south, folks will get more. It normally works the opposite, so it's nice to see us not bear the brunt for a change.
That brings up an interesting writing point: I tend to write short chapters, and include a lot of them. Many other writers write fewer, but very long, chapters. I wonder if it makes a difference for readers? (and I'd be interested in your opinion on this, if you'd care to let me know.) It might be because of my background writing screenplays. These days, most movies have many scenes, and they're generally quite short. Over the years, that's what I've gotten used to. So now that I'm writing novels, I tend to break up each change of locale, for example, into a new chapter (equivalent to a new scene in a screenplay). It's required in screenplays, but not in novels.
I don't think it affect me as a reader, but I admit I'm not a normal reader (or normal in anything, for that matter).
--
Hopefully, tonight/tomorrow will see the last snowfall of the season. Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, which means time for the snow to blow! We're expected to get little here, while to the south, folks will get more. It normally works the opposite, so it's nice to see us not bear the brunt for a change.
Words Last Night / Has Science Buried God?
I did get a chance to write last night -- my stomach was a bit upset, which kept me up. Words: 665 (that makes words for the day, because I wrote in the morning, too, 1,899). Total word count: 19,584. So I'm nearing the 20,000 word mark now. I like those sorts of milestones to gauge progress. 20,000 words is about the equivalent of 80 pages in a standard paperback. At this point, the first major consequence has happened to my protagonist (not hero -- this book doesn't have a hero as such, not like Internet Kill Switch did) as a result of his failings.
I really think this will be the most important thing I've ever written. Can't wait to see where it goes from here.
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One of my great passions, besides writing, is Christian apologetics. Apologetics simply means to offer a defense; you may have heard the term "apologist" used to refer to someone who defends another person ("that guy's a total Obama apologist") or idea. Christian apologetics is the same idea; there are lots of questions about, and attacks on, the faith. So, for instance, how do you respond when someone says "The Bible's a fallible book, written by fallible men, and contains errors everywhere, and isn't trustworthy in any way"? Or when people say Jesus was just a man (if he even lived at all). He was just a good moral teacher, but certainly didn't do miracles, including rising from the dead. I mean, are you serious?
So apologetics deals with those questions (and many more). What is the evidence for creation? Or miracles? Or morality? I've been reading apologetics books for many, many years. My current read is "God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?", by John Lennox, one of my favorite apologists. It discusses a question that's very popular right now, especially with the airing of "Cosmos." There's a strong undercurrent of belief that religion is at war with science; that science is based strictly on evidence, and faith is nothing but blind belief in something for which we have no evidence. More specifically: has science, with its myriad discoveries of how the world works, made God unnecessary or proven that God doesn't exist? That's what Lennox tackles. And, as usual, he does it brilliantly. Worth your time, for sure. Not the easiest reading in the world, but that's pretty typical of apologetics texts. It's not light reading. But I find the payoff well worth it.
I really think this will be the most important thing I've ever written. Can't wait to see where it goes from here.
--
One of my great passions, besides writing, is Christian apologetics. Apologetics simply means to offer a defense; you may have heard the term "apologist" used to refer to someone who defends another person ("that guy's a total Obama apologist") or idea. Christian apologetics is the same idea; there are lots of questions about, and attacks on, the faith. So, for instance, how do you respond when someone says "The Bible's a fallible book, written by fallible men, and contains errors everywhere, and isn't trustworthy in any way"? Or when people say Jesus was just a man (if he even lived at all). He was just a good moral teacher, but certainly didn't do miracles, including rising from the dead. I mean, are you serious?
So apologetics deals with those questions (and many more). What is the evidence for creation? Or miracles? Or morality? I've been reading apologetics books for many, many years. My current read is "God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?", by John Lennox, one of my favorite apologists. It discusses a question that's very popular right now, especially with the airing of "Cosmos." There's a strong undercurrent of belief that religion is at war with science; that science is based strictly on evidence, and faith is nothing but blind belief in something for which we have no evidence. More specifically: has science, with its myriad discoveries of how the world works, made God unnecessary or proven that God doesn't exist? That's what Lennox tackles. And, as usual, he does it brilliantly. Worth your time, for sure. Not the easiest reading in the world, but that's pretty typical of apologetics texts. It's not light reading. But I find the payoff well worth it.
Wednesday Words; Birthdays
This morning, I wrote 1,447 words in my new novel. The total now is 24,734. Two really good writing days so far this week. I've gotten through a difficult section, involving lots of interior dialogue. That stuff is hard to write, and I sometimes wonder if I'm overdoing that part of it. Will it bore the reader? I enjoy reading those types of things, but it can bog down a novel, if the writer's not careful.
Woke up very early this morning, and managed to get started writing without checking too much online. That discipline is important; the distractions are simply overwhelming, if you let them in. For me, Twitter is a big one. I can get caught up in the links, the news, etc. from all those sources. Keeping away, at least while I'm writing, is a good thing.
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Had a birthday party for my father last night. He turned 83 yesterday. He's still living independently, by himself, without any assistance. I hope I'm that independent when I get to that age!
Woke up very early this morning, and managed to get started writing without checking too much online. That discipline is important; the distractions are simply overwhelming, if you let them in. For me, Twitter is a big one. I can get caught up in the links, the news, etc. from all those sources. Keeping away, at least while I'm writing, is a good thing.
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Had a birthday party for my father last night. He turned 83 yesterday. He's still living independently, by himself, without any assistance. I hope I'm that independent when I get to that age!
